Jean Baptiste De La Salle Tignegre
Burkina Faso | Insect-Resistant Cowpea
Driven by a vision for a food-secure Africa, Jean Baptiste Tignegre is a leading force in plant breeding and genetics (marker-assisted selection) on the continent. Tignegre has demonstrated leadership, collaboration and persistence in his pursuit of innovative vegetable and pulse varieties most critical to farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Most notably, he played a pivotal role in the development of Pod Borer-Resistant (PBR) cowpea – the first biotech food crop to be commercialized in Africa. Tignegre led the project in West Africa, establishing field trial infrastructure, securing regulatory approvals and initiating advocacy and training programs for students and civil society. Tignegre has also actively worked to build sustainable cowpea value chains, led biotechnology advocacy campaigns and empowered the next generation of agricultural scientists in Niger, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Mali. Tignegre works at the African Agriculture Technology Foundation (AATF) in Nigeria.